1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a network system, and is especially suitable to change a function and performance of a communication device that configures a network according to a function and performance of a peripheral device connected to the network.
2. Description of the Related Art
The advent of new IT technologies such as software defined networking (SDN) and network function virtualization (NFV) accelerates a decrease in a generation cycle or long tail of new communication services.
As illustrated in FIG. 1, conventional wide area networks (WANs) of communication operators are often created exclusively for communication services provided in the networks. For example, FIG. 1 is configured from three networks including a mobile accommodation network 3, a wide area Ethernet service network 6, and an IP VPN service network 10. The mobile accommodation network 3 is built by an Ethernet (registered trademark) communication device 1-n for accommodating a mobile service. The wide area Ethernet service network 6 is built by a provider backbone bridge (PBB) communication device 4-n in order to provide a Layer 2 connection service among remote locations for companies. The IP VPN service network 10 is built by an IP/multi protocol label switching (MPLS) communication device 8-n in order to provide an IP connection service among remote locations for companies, like the wide area Ethernet service network 6. As described above, the communication operators often build the exclusive networks for the respective communication services in order to accommodate the respective communication services.
Behind this background, it has been better to build the exclusive networks for the respective communication services and to provide the communication services because high quality and high reliability are required for the WANs to reliably transfer data packet with a small delay time. Further, there are a small number of types of the conventional communication services and these services are provided on the assumption that the same communication services are provided for a long period of time.
As supplemental explanation, the Ethernet communication device 1-n, the PBB communication device 4-n, and the IP/MPLS communication device 8-n that configure these networks require a function to determine which route in the WAN is good to use to transfer a received data packet, and transfer the data packet in the WAN using the determined route, after analyzing an identifier (MAC or VLAN in a case of a service that identifies a destination with Ethernet (registered trademark), an IP address in a case of a service that identifies the destination with an IP, or the like) that identifies the destination or a user of the data packet received from an outside of the network.
Meanwhile, JP-2009-021682-A discloses a technology for accommodating a plurality of communication services in a single WAN. Intel “NEC*Virtualized EPC Innovation Powered by Multi Core Intel® Architecture Processors” [online] 2013 (Heisei 25) [searched on Dec. 16, 2013 (Heisei 25), the Internet <URL: http://networkbuilders.intel.com/docs/communications_nec_vi rtualized_epc_paper.pdf> discloses a technology that realizes processing function of communication services on a general purpose server by connecting the general purpose server outside the communication devices that build the WAN, and reinforces the processing function of the general purpose server with setting from a management system called SDN controller.